Talent Development Awards 2023-24 scheme guidance notes
The following Scheme Guidance Notes set out the eligibility and application process of the British Academy’s Talent Development Awards scheme, the 2023-24 competition. Please read these Scheme Guidance Notes carefully. Any application which is incorrectly submitted will not be eligible.
The British Academy has been funded by the UK government, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT, formerly known as BEIS) to continue its support for the Talent Development Awards scheme.
The aim of the scheme is to promote the building of skills and capacities for current and future generations, including in core areas like quantitative skills, interdisciplinarity, data science, digital humanities and languages. This scheme promotes the acquisition and advancement of skills in relevant areas by UK-based researchers, supporting innovative research methods, be that through skills development, collaboration or dissemination. The overarching aims of the scheme are to invest in UK talent and skills, and as a result, to contribute to the development and delivery of high quality regional, national and international research by:
- raising the quality of advanced quantitative skills and/or data science skills used in research, including digital methods;
- creating new opportunities for knowledge and skills to exchange across disciplines and sectors; and
- promoting language learning and the transferable skills that language learning provides.
The scheme is intended for established researchers in the Humanities and Social Sciences with a current long-term appointment at a UK-based Higher Education Institution (HEI) or Independent Research Organisation (IRO) who wish to experiment with new methods that speak to the aims of the scheme, as above. Equally, it is intended for researchers who wish to explore new opportunities for skills development and knowledge translation. The awards will, in particular, be valuable to researchers wishing to pilot new methods and approaches in order to apply for larger grants in the longer term or develop new partnerships, be it locally, nationally or internationally. Applicants are encouraged to be creative in their thinking about how these awards can best help advance their research ideas, including through collaborative, partnership working. This scheme is designed to benefit the career, skills and talent of award-holders, and by extension, groups within or beyond academia who will also benefit from the sharing of skills and methods.
The British Academy welcomes applications requesting support for a wide range of activities that demonstrate innovation either in the use, acquisition and teaching of: languages, digital humanities, interdisciplinarity, data science skills, and quantitative skills. The following list gives examples of potential kinds of activities, but is not exhaustive:
- Funding for the Lead Applicant and Co-applicant(s) to acquire new skills or training from specialists, such as, in advanced quantitative methods, data science or skills relating to language learning, with a view to applying them in research or teaching those skills to others.
- Funding to allow visiting specialists to deliver bespoke teaching in advanced quantitative methods, data science or skills relating to language learning.
- Support for conferences, workshops and other activities that promote collaboration or cross-disciplinary learning in the use of advanced quantitative methods, data science or digital humanities.
- Support for the development of innovative teaching courses and/or online resources and hubs in advanced quantitative skills, data science, and in languages.
- Support for developing individual expertise and teaching the skills associated with the use of languages in research – for example in working with interpreters and translators.
- Funding for piloting the novel use of advanced quantitative methods or data science in research projects.
The British Academy welcomes proposals for high-quality research in all its subject areas, i.e. disciplines within the Humanities and Social Sciences. While all proposals should be situated in an appropriate field of study, they may vary considerably in their approach to conceptualisation, methodology and/or outputs, depending on the discipline. In some cases, creative and professional practice may play a significant role in shaping the methods and/or outcomes of research. In all proposals, whether practice-led or not, a clear scholarly rationale is required for the choice of research methods, processes and outputs.
The maximum grant is £10,000. Awards are to enable engagement activities to take place and are not intended as time buy-out for the award-holder. This scheme is not offered on a Full Economic Costing (FEC) basis, and all of the grants awarded are expected to be used 100% for the purposes specified in the application and agreed in the award-letter.
Use of Funding
Funding can be used for a variety of purposes in support of the above activities, such as:
- meeting the costs of travel and maintenance away from home for the Lead Applicant and Co-applicant(s);
- employing teaching and research assistants;
- covering the costs involved in hosting workshops or conferences;
- meeting the costs of developing digital teaching tools and courses;
- meeting travel and accommodation costs of visiting teachers and speakers;
- covering short-term consultancy or salary costs of expert staff;
- covering the costs of interpreters in the field;
- covering incidental translation expenses;
- covering tuition fees for accredited short courses that enable applicants to acquire specialised skills;
- costs associated with specialist software (excluding commonly available office packages) and consumables (i.e. purchase of datasets, photocopies, microfilms, etc., and any other minor items that will be used up during the course of the project);
- costs associated with online dissemination of information, including the development of podcasts, audio and/or visual recording of events, costs associated with the analysis of feedback from participants and preparation of suitable reports on activities.
Please see the Appendix further down the page for more information about items eligible for funding from Talent Development Awards and the British Academy’s Additional Needs Funding.
Successful candidates will be selected on the basis of the quality and interest of the activity or range of activities proposed in the application. Award-holders will be expected to play a role in promoting the skills and methods that are the focus of their award, and to act as champions for these skills within their institutions, through broader British Academy networks and more generally. This can involve, for example:
- writing blog pieces about their work;
- applying their experiences in their teaching;
- and engaging with researchers or learners outside their disciplinary area.
Reporting
Award-holders are required to complete two reports:
- a final report within three months of the award’s end, detailing the progress of the activities in which they participated;
- and a post-award report three years after the award’s end showing the impact of the award on the quality of their research and/or teaching.
It is expected that approximately 26 awards (dependent upon the amount of funding required for each of the successful awards) will be made. This is the third round of a new scheme, and the strength of competition remains difficult to estimate. We are unable to give guidance on the likely success rate.
Awards can be held for a minimum period of 6 months and up to a maximum period of 12 months. Awards are expected to commence no earlier than 1 March 2024 and no later than 31 March 2024.
Competition Opens
21 June 2023
Application Deadline
13 September 2023 (17:00, UK time)
Decisions (notification via email)
December 2023
Starting Period of Award(s)
No earlier than 1 March 2024 and no later than 31 March 2024
Duration of Award(s)
A minimum period of 6 months and up to a maximum period of 12 months
Lead Applicant
All applications must have one Lead Applicant, although applications on behalf of more than one person are welcome. The Lead Applicant is responsible for notifying any other parties. Other parties can include two Co-applicants and Other Participants.
Co-applicant(s)
Up to a maximum of two Co-applicants are permissible. The Co-applicant(s) will be directly involved in the delivery of the activity that is proposed by the Lead Applicant.
Other Participants
Lead Applicants may specify other participants who do not equate to being a Co-applicant. Other participants will be engaged in the activity proposed by the Lead Applicant, but will not be directly involved with the organisation of activity.
Applicant Eligibility
Eligible Lead Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom with a current long-term appointment that will continue for at least as long as the period of the award at a UK-based institution (HEI or IRO). Applicants for the Talent Development Awards should be intending to pursue original, independent research in any field of study within the Humanities or Social Sciences. There are no quotas for individual subject areas and no thematic priorities.
Lead Applicants who do not have a doctorate may have equivalent experience, which they should define in the personal statement section.
Co-applicants may be based in the UK or overseas. They may have a doctorate or equivalent experience, or other specialist knowledge as appropriate to the aims of the scheme.
N.B. Postgraduate students are not eligible to apply for grant support from the Academy, and Lead Applicants and Co-applicants are asked to confirm in the personal details section(s) that they are not currently working towards a PhD, nor awaiting the outcome of a viva voce examination, nor awaiting the acceptance of any corrections required by the examiners. Please note that applications from independent researchers cannot be accepted in this scheme.
Applications that are not completed correctly (including the reference and supporting statement), and on time will not be considered.
Lead Applicants must be based in an institution which is listed as an approving-organisation in the British Academy’s grant management system, Flexi-Grant. This institution (e.g. a Higher Education Institution [HEI] or Independent Research Organisation [IRO]) must be based in the United Kingdom and will be issued the Terms and Conditions of Award, if successful.
The Lead Applicant is required to provide statements from two individuals. They include a nominated referee and a Head of Department. Please see further details below.
Nominated Referee Requirements and Guidelines
- A reference must be provided by one nominated referee. The referee must be nominated by the Lead Applicant. The nominated referee must not be based at the same employing institution as the Lead Applicant or Co-applicant(s), if any. The primary consideration is that they are able to comment independently and authoritatively on your application (i.e. someone in your field, who is independent from you, the Lead Applicant, and the Co-applicant(s)). You do not need to know them personally, but you should make sure they are able to provide a reference before adding them to your application. The nominated referee is expected to comment on the potential of the Lead Applicant to benefit from this scheme and the value that this award will bring to their current and future research direction and ambition. Your nominated referee will be asked to comment upon this in a series of short statements.
- Nominated references from the Lead Applicant’s former/current supervisor (including PhD supervisor) will not be accepted. The referee must not be a member of the British Academy’s Council.
- The reference may be obtained from a person based within or outside the UK but must be submitted in English. If a reference is not submitted in English, it will not be accepted and may render the application ineligible.
- Before listing your referee on your application form, you should seek permission from them that they are happy to provide this by the deadline. It is essential that you enter the correct email address for your referee, otherwise they will not receive the automated messages delivered from the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS. We strongly advise that you complete your application as early as possible to allow your referee enough time to provide their reference in the system. The reference must be submitted before the application can be approved. Any application without the supporting reference will not be able to be submitted.
Please note that the reference must be provided through the GMS, they cannot be provided as an email attachment nor sent by post in hard copy. Any reference received after the deadline, or outside of the system, or by another academic at the same institution as you or your Co-applicant(s) will not be accepted, and your application will be withdrawn from this competition
Head of Department Requirements and Guidelines
- The Lead Applicant is required to obtain a statement of support from their Head of Department as part of this application. The Head of Department should be the person who heads the Department, Faculty, Institute or other unit in which you are currently working and will be expected to comment on the career development benefit to be gained if the award is made.
- The statement submitted by the Head of Department should be on letterheaded paper, dated and signed by the Head of Department.
- If the Lead Applicant/Co-applicant is also Head of Department, the statement must be provided by another suitable individual, e.g. Deputy Head or Head of School.
- Please note that the Head of Department statement must be received before you can formally submit the application for approval, and you are strongly advised to ensure that your Head of Department submits the statement well in advance of the formal applicant deadline for this round of competition as noted above.
- Please note that the supporting statement must be provided through the GMS, they cannot be provided as an email attachment nor sent by post in hard copy. Any supporting statement received after the deadline, or outside of the system will not be accepted, and your application will be withdrawn from this competition.
Your nominated referee and Head of Department must be invited to contribute to your application via the Flexi-Grant system. Please see further guidance below:
- The contributors will need to register for an account on the British Academy’s Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS) via (https://britishacademy.flexigrant.com/), or have an account on Flexi-Grant, prior to being invited to contribute to the application.
- They can be invited through the ‘Contributors’ tab displayed on the application form summary page. Once they have been invited, they will receive an email notification with instructions on how to contribute.
- You can monitor the progress of your contributors’ activity through this section of the application form, and issue reminders as required. Once the recipient has accepted your invitation, their status will be displayed as ‘active’. Upon completion of their section of the application form, their status will be displayed as ‘complete’.
- Once contributors have completed all their sections of the application form, please remind them to select ‘Save & Submit’ on the application form page or select ‘Submit your contribution’ on the summary page.
- You will not be able to submit your application form until the status of all participants shows as ‘complete’ in the ‘Contributors’ tab.
Please also note that an application cannot be submitted until all required contributors have submitted their contribution first. We recommend your nominated referee and supporting participants fulfil their requirements at least five working days before the submission deadline to ensure there is sufficient time for organisational approval. The employing institution approver must approve the completed application by the submission deadline.
Assessment
Assessors will evaluate the proposal on the basis of the quality and interest of the activity or range of activities proposed. They will also consider the promotion of the skills and methods that are the focus of the award, and the plans for the Lead Applicant to act as champion for these skills within their institutions, through broader British Academy networks and more generally. This might include, for example, writing blog pieces about their work, applying their experiences in their teaching, and engaging with researchers or learners outside their disciplinary area. The feasibility and specificity of the programme of activity, and the intended outcomes will also be taken into account. Assessors will also evaluate the ability of the applicant(s) to undertake the proposed activity, taking into account, how they will benefit from this scheme and the value that this award will bring to their current and future research direction and ambition.
Comparative judgements about value for money may be considered at the final stage of assessment. Any special case made for endangered or emerging fields may be taken into account at the final stage of assessment.
There are no interviews prior to selection. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the application in December 2023 for immediate start in the first quarter of 2024. The approving organisation will be asked to give its consent before the award is confirmed.
Opening date
21 June 2023
Closing date
13 September 2023
(17:00, UK time)
Research to commence
No earlier than
1 March 2024
No later than
31 March 2024
Notification of result
December 2023
Code of Practice
The Academy has a Code of Practice for assessing research applications, setting out the principles of equity, integrity and confidentiality governing the treatment of all applications for research support. The Code of Practice also covers Data Protection, the Academy’s ethics policy and the appeals procedure.
Feedback
Feedback is not a feature of the Talent Development Awards scheme, and the Academy is, regretfully, unable to enter correspondence regarding the decisions of the Final Awarding Panel, which is governed by the Code of Practice. Please note that by applying in this scheme, applicants undertake to accept the terms under which applications are assessed.
There must be no duplication of funding for the same purpose. Applicants may not hold more than one British Academy award of a comparable nature at any one time. For example, it would not be possible to hold two British Academy grant awards at the same time; but it may be possible to hold a British Academy grant (i.e. Talent Development Award or BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant) and a British Academy Fellowship at the same time, depending on the amount of time required for the Fellowship.
Please note that an application cannot be accepted if there is a report outstanding on any previous research grant awarded by the Academy to the Lead Applicant or Co-applicant(s) named in the current proposal. Failure to follow this guidance will result in your application being withdrawn from this round of competition. Duplicate applications for the same purpose to more than one Academy scheme will not be accepted.
Making an Application via Flexi-Grant® GMS
Applications can only be submitted online using the British Academy Flexi-Grant® Grant Management System (GMS) via (https://britishacademy.flexigrant.com/). If you have not previously used the British Academy’s Flexi-Grant® GMS and were not previously registered in the e-GAP system, please follow the registration process from the Flexi-Grant® GMS homepage. Applications cannot be submitted on paper or in any other format. Before completing the online form, all applicants should check that they comply with the eligibility requirements and ensure all necessary information is presented in the application. These requirements are strictly adhered to, and applications without all the necessary information, or evidence to show the assessment criteria are met, will be rejected.
Approving Organisations on Flexi-Grant® GMS
Registered approving organisations will be available in the search bar. If your organisation is not listed and is not affiliated with any organisations already in the system, then please contact us at [email protected] to request the addition of the organisation.
Guidelines for using Flexi-Grant® GMS
When completing your application, it is recommended that you take note of the following points:
- Personal details: When registered in the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS, a user has the option to add or update personal information such as contact details, log-in details (including email address and password), interests, research and employment details, at any time. This does not form part of the specific application form for any individual scheme but represents a personal record of your account in the system. Please keep this information up to date.
- Automatic log-out: You are strongly advised to save your work regularly to prevent accidental loss of text. The Flexi-Grant website will automatically log people out if no activity is detected. It is recommended that you work offline in a separate word processor and copy and paste completed text online once complete.
- Multiple sessions: Do not have multiple browser windows/tabs of your application open at the same time as this may cause information to be lost. Only one user should edit an application at a time.
- Word limits: If you exceed the word limit, you will not be able to save the page you are working on. Longer-length text should be completed separately and backed up in a word processor.
- Plain text: If entering plain text, please avoid using symbols as some may not be accepted by the Flexi-Grant: This includes the following symbols: < >
- PDF documents: When uploading PDF documents, please add your name and a heading at the top of every page to show what the document is. Please avoid uploading documents containing illustrations with fine details or colour as this can cause problems when creating a PDF of the application. Each PDF cannot exceed 3 Mb in size.
- Email addresses: It is essential that you ensure your email address is up to date and actively monitored, or you may miss important notification emails.
- Submission: You will not be able to submit your application until you have completed each section in full. You should submit your application for approval by your employing institution at least five working days before the closing date to allow for your employing institution’s administrative procedures. You should also check whether your institution has its own internal deadlines. We strongly advise that you contact your nominated referee and Head of Department as early as possible to avoid any last-minute issues before the submission deadline.
- Application sharing: You can invite other contributors to join the application. All contributors must be registered on the Flexi-Grant management system and mark their work as ‘Complete’ before you can submit your application – including the nominated referee and Head of Department.
- Application deletion: You can delete your application at any time although it is often a lot easier to just re-edit your existing application. We will be able to recover a deleted application for a period of seven days after deletion. After this, it will be permanently removed from the system.
- Application returned for editing: The organisational approver can return your application to you for further editing, but the original deadline remains in place.
Please note that it is essential that you create a PDF of your completed application (by clicking ‘Print Application’) and check it thoroughly before submitting it for approval by your employing institution. It may not be possible to rectify mistakes in time for the deadline.
Word limits apply to plain text only. Page limits apply to PDFs only.
All fields marked with an asterisk* are mandatory.
You should not have multiple browser windows/tabs of your application open at the same time, as this may cause information to be lost. Only one user should edit an application at a time, otherwise changes might be lost.
The application can be completed by using the navigation tabs on the application summary page, with each page categorised as follows:
Page 1: Research Proposal
Page 2: Eligibility
Page 3: Lead Applicant Details
Page 4: Lead Applicant Career Summary
Page 5: Co-Applicant Details/Career Summary
Page 6: Second Co-Applicant Details/Career Summary
Page 7: Financial Details
Page 8: Equal Opportunities
Page 9: Nominated Referee Statement
Page 10: Head of Department Statement
A full list of question fields to be completed as part of the application can be found in the following table. Each box in the table represents a page of the application form: the left-hand column contains the questions within each of these pages as set out in the form; the right-hand column contains useful guidance on its completion. A red asterisk (*) indicates which questions are mandatory and therefore must be complete before the application can be submitted.
Please read the guidance notes carefully before completing the form.
Summary Table
When your application form is complete, all sections on this summary table will be marked as ‘Complete’. The ‘Complete’ status will only appear when all the mandatory fields in that section have been completed. All mandatory fields are marked with an asterisk ‘*’. Only then will a ‘Submit’ button appear for you to be able to submit your application.
Subject Area
Please select the Subject Area from the drop-down menu that is most relevant to this proposal.
Title of Research Proposal
In this field, please avoid using any unnecessary quotation or other punctuation marks (e.g. do not use quotation marks round the full title simply to indicate it is a title). Consider the presentation by checking the ‘print application’ option to ensure that the title appears as you wish it to.
Abstract
Please provide a short abstract summarising your proposed research in terms suitable for an informed general audience, not one specialised in your field. This is a mandatory field and the limit is 150 words
Start Date/End Date
To select a date in the future using the calendar feature, click on the month and year in between the two arrows at the top of the box. To change the year keep clicking on the box – a second click will produce a decade. Use the arrows to move back or forward in time. To change the month, a second box will appear where you can select the month you wish and then you can type the year you require in the box provided. Click on the date and the calendar will take you to the month and year you have selected where you can select the relevant date for display.
Awards can be held for a minimum period of 6 months and up to a maximum period of 12 months. Awards are expected to commence no earlier than 1 March 2024 and no later than 31 March 2024.
Proposed Research Programme/ Plan of Action
The proposal must:
- clearly specify the context and objectives of the proposed activity,
- describe the methodology to be used, and
- set out a realistic programme, describing the activities that will take place, and explaining how they will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the proposal.
Applicants should give an account of their programme of activity which is complete of itself and should not depend on material facts being provided by their referees, nor rely on special prior knowledge on the part of assessors.
Where the bulk of funding sought is to finance a workshop(s) or conference(s), applicants should give a clear account of the overall programme, provide a justification of the contribution of the event(s) to the achievement of the objective, and give an account of the onward research planned.
It is essential that applicants clearly state the reasons why funds are needed. For example, it is not sufficient to state that the applicant will visit a particular archive: adequate details must be provided of sources to be consulted, and the length of visit must be clearly justified. The applicant should briefly explain why alternative access to material, such as microfilm or internet access, is not appropriate.
Grants are intended only for the planning and conduct of activity. All applications must clearly itemise the programme to be undertaken at any location.
If support is sought for visits between UK and overseas scholars, applicants should clearly explain the purpose of the meeting(s).
If a research assistant is to be employed, applicants should provide a brief job description, clearly stating the nature of the work to be undertaken by the research assistant, and the arrangements for ensuring adequate supervision. If the research assistant has already been identified, details should be given under ‘other participants’, otherwise, applicants should state the skills and qualifications sought.
Applicants should justify the period of employment (or number of hours) for which funding is sought (e.g., has a pilot study or sample been conducted to show how long it will take the assistant to achieve the task in question?). Please note that PhD candidates employed as research assistants on projects funded by the Academy should work for no more than 10 hours per week on projects outside their own PhD research. British Academy research grants may not be used to fund work by PhD candidates that is directly related to their PhD thesis.
If the study will involve the use of a questionnaire as a research tool, a sample of the questionnaire (in English) should be submitted, if available at the time of application. Please note no other attachments can be uploaded. The PDF cannot exceed 3 Mb in size.
If applicants wish to include a reference list/bibliography, then this should be included as part of the main text – you cannot upload this as an additional document. Please note it is not a mandatory requirement that you include a list of references.
The limit for the proposed research programme field is 2000 words, and for the plan of action is 800 words.
Planned Research Outputs/Plans for Publication/ Dissemination
Under ‘planned research outputs’, please only state the type of output expected. Please give more detail about potential publishers etc. under ‘plans for publication and dissemination’, for which the limit is 500 words. In assessing value for money, the assessors may consider the intended outcome as compared with the amount of money sought, although it is fully appreciated that some modes of research are more expensive than others and proposals will not be discriminated against on grounds of cost alone.
Digital Resource/Deposit of Datasets
Digital resources created as a result of an award funded by the Academy should be deposited in an appropriately accessible repository. Of course, we do not expect confidential data to be readily available.
If applicable to your project, you will need to provide details of how and where any electronic or digital data (including datasets) developed during the project will be stored, along with details on the appropriate methods of access.
Applicants should ensure that any necessary technical advice is obtained before commencing work that involves the creation of digital resources. Please confirm whether the primary product of the research will be a digital resource, and if so how and where it will be deposited.
Overseas Travel: Country/ Institution
Where overseas travel is to be undertaken, please list the most significant country (up to three can be chosen) to be visited under ‘Overseas travel – country’; and if your research involves working in a particular overseas institution, and/or working in other countries to which you will travel in connection with this application, please give details under ‘Overseas travel – institution’.
This information is used for monitoring purposes and may be provided to sister Academies or other organisations which have agreements or links with the British Academy, or the British International Research Institutes. Relevant information about the proposal, including, with the consent of the applicant, contact details, may be shared with the sister Academies or Institutes where this is part of the assessment process, or where joint funding is available (see our website for list of organisations with which the Academy has links).
Research Leave Granted/ Permission Obtained
If it is necessary for you to obtain research leave in order to undertake this research project, has this already been granted?
Support of British International Research Institutes Required/ Granted
Please note that scholars may not apply for cash support from both the British Academy and the British International Research Institutes. There is no bar to applicants seeking cash support under the Talent Development Awards scheme, and logistical, permit-related, or other non-cash assistance from an Institute or Society. If the project is funded by an Institute or Society, an application may not be submitted under the Talent Development Awards scheme. If your research will take you to a country or region in which one of the British International Research Institutes operates, you are strongly encouraged to make contact with them before completing this form so that you can take account of any relevant expertise, facilities and logistical advice: details can be found on the British Academy’s website.
Language Competence
The Academy expects that applicants will have any language skills necessary to conduct the research. If relevant, please state the level of language competence of the applicant and other participants, or otherwise explain how the objectives of the research will be met.
Other Participants/ Role of Other Participants/ Added Value of Collaboration
Under ‘other participants’ please give the names, appointments and institutional affiliation of any other participants in the proposed research. If detail is not known yet, please indicate numbers and status of people who might be involved. Please describe the contribution to the project to be made by other participants, citing any particular specialisms and expertise, under ‘role of other participants’; and under ‘added value of collaboration’, please provide any comments you wish to make on the particular relevance, timeliness or other aspects of the collaboration, and the benefits envisaged.
Endangered or Emerging Subject Areas
Applicants for the Talent Development Awards should be intending to pursue original, independent research in any field of study within the humanities or social sciences. There are no quotas for individual subject areas and no thematic priorities.
The primary factor in assessing applications will remain the excellence of the proposal. The Academy will however, where appropriate, take into account the aim of providing particular support for certain important fields, either emerging areas of scholarship or areas of research that are endangered or under threat.
This is an optional field and the limit is 300 words
Ethical Issues
This field is mandatory and must be addressed by all applicants.
Are there any special ethical issues arising from your proposal that are not covered by the relevant professional Code of Practice? Have you obtained, or will you obtain, ethical approval from your employing institution or other relevant authority?
It is not expected that any special ethical issues will arise that are not already covered by relevant professional Codes of Practice. The normal expectation, therefore, will be that applicants should answer the pair of questions with the answers no and no.
If there are any special issues arising, but they have already been cleared by approval from a relevant authority, please answer yes and yes.
If any special issues arise and approval has not yet been obtained, please answer yes and no, and provide more explanation.
Source of Funding
Please provide details of other support given or applied for in connection with the current proposal.
Please indicate whether any other grant applications relating to this project have been submitted, either to the British Academy or to any other funder. Applications submitted to the Academy by separate applicants will not be accepted if it is considered that both (or all, if more than two) applications relate to the same project, whose components would not be viable as independent pieces of research.
The Academy has no objection to its grants being held in conjunction with awards from other bodies, if there is no duplication of expenditure. Applicants are requested to keep the Academy informed of the outcomes of any other applications by email to [email protected]. Failure to do so may jeopardise the application’s prospects of success. In cases where simultaneous applications to the Academy and to another funding agency covering the same elements of a project are both successful, the applicant will be asked to choose which award to accept.
Only if there is no duplication and no unnecessary inflation of a project will an applicant be permitted to retain both awards (subsequent requests to alter the plan of research simply to allow the applicant to retain both awards are unlikely to be considered favourably).
Primary and Secondary Subjects
Your application must be relevant to the Humanities and/or Social Sciences and you will need to select the relevant subject areas and fields from the drop-down list
Time Period, Audiences, Regional Interests
These fields provide the opportunity to give further indications of the relevance of your subject area. They are optional fields.
Employing Organisation
Please select your current employing organisation. The majority of appropriate establishments are registered in the system. If your employing organisation is not there, however, please contact the institution’s research support services, or equivalent, and ask them to provide the Research Awards Department with contact details of an appropriate person in the organisation to act as an approver on its behalf.
All applications must be approved by the employing organisation authorities e.g. research grants office, finance department, etc. The approving department will receive email notification once you have completed your application and submitted it. They will be asked to provide approval and then submit the application to the British Academy. The deadline for this round is the deadline by which approval must be given. Remember that the application cannot be submitted for approval before the referee and Head of Department have submitted their reference/statement, so it is essential to obtain the reference/statement well before the deadline.
It is strongly recommended that the applicant maintains an open dialogue with the approving department at your employing institution as the British Academy cannot be held responsible for emails being caught in spam filters or not being received.
It is recommended that you allow at least five working days for this process. Once they have checked your application, they will contact you if any changes are required, please note if changes need to be made these will have to be done before the deadline as they cannot be done afterwards.
Co-Applicants
Please note that all applications must have one Lead Applicant, although applications on behalf of more than one person are welcome. Please note that all correspondence is sent via the system only to the individual in whose name the application is submitted on the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS.
The applicant is responsible for notifying any other parties. If there is more than one applicant, or the research involves other partners, please complete this section, and the relevant sections of the Co-applicant personal details and Co-applicant career summary. Up to a maximum of two Co-applicants are permissible. The Co-applicant(s) will be directly involved in the delivery of the activity that is proposed by the Lead Applicant.
For the Talent Development Awards scheme up to a maximum of two Co-applicants can be named.
Postgraduate students are not eligible to apply for grant support from the Academy, and Lead Applicants (and Co-applicants) are asked to confirm in the personal details section(s) that they are not currently working towards a PhD, nor awaiting the outcome of a viva voce examination, nor awaiting the acceptance of any corrections required by the examiners.
Other participants in a project, whose involvement does not equate to being a Co-applicant should be named in the relevant section (other participants) in the Research Proposal section.
Lead Applicant Contact Details
Please take care to review and complete your personal details accurately. Errors in this section can cause difficulties in the processing of your application.
You can update your personal details by checking ‘my account’ and selecting the link to ‘my contact details’ and ‘my organisation’ and ensuring the relevant details are up to date.
Statement of Qualifications and Career
Please give details of up to 4 qualifications in reverse chronological order.
Present Appointment, Employing Institution and Department
Please give details of your current appointment.
PhD Confirmation
Applicants working towards a PhD or awaiting the outcome of their viva/submission of corrections are not eligible to apply. Please therefore confirm that you have a PhD by answering yes. If you are an established scholar with relevant equivalent experience, but no doctorate, please select 'no' and indicate in the 'personal statement' field why you should be eligible for consideration.
Personal Statement
This field is optional, but may be used, for example, in providing information regarding interruptions to an academic career. The limit on this field is 500 words.
Publications, Unpublished Research
Please list up to 6 relevant publications to date in reverse chronological order under publications; and any unpublished studies previously funded by any agency, including but not restricted to the British Academy. Please give details of planned publication dates or explain why the research has not yet been published. Assessors may take backlogs of publication into account.
Previous Support Dates
An application will not be eligible for consideration if there is a report outstanding on any previous research grant awarded by the Academy to the Lead Applicant or any Co-applicant. Failure to follow this guidance will result in your application being withdrawn from this round of competition.
Please give details of any research applications submitted to the British Academy within the last five years. In the case of a further application for continuing research which has received previous Academy support, please note that a full report and statement of expenditure for the previous grant must be submitted before further funding can be considered.
Where did you hear of this scheme?
This field is optional. It helps the British Academy to target appropriate resources towards the promotion of the scheme to know where an applicant hears about it. As appropriate please state BA website; BA literature; PhD supervisor; University Research Office; Twitter, other colleague etc.
Specify Co-Applicant
In this scheme up to a maximum of two Co-applicants can be named.
Your Co-applicant(s) will need to register themselves on the British Academy GMS before they are able to complete this section.
If applicable, please enter all the details of your Co-applicant(s) by clicking ‘Contributors’ tab on the Application’s ‘Summary’ page. Please click on the ‘Invite’ button, enter the Co-applicant’s email address and then click ‘Send Invitation’. If necessary, it is possible to enter additional Co-applicants by repeating the instructions above.
Once you have clicked on the ‘Send Invitation’ button, your Co-applicant will be able to view your application amend the relevant Co-applicant career summary page. The Co-applicants are required to provide details which are similar to the Lead Applicant above.
Financial Details/ Justification
Please provide details of funding in the relevant fields: Travel Costs, Other Costs, Accommodation, Consumables, Research/Clerical Assistance.
Applicants should prepare accurate costings for the proposed research expenses and should be particularly careful not to overestimate the resources required. Applicants are advised that competition for funds can be fierce, and proposals on the margin for award may have a greater chance of success if they are modestly costed.
Costs should be clearly itemised and justified in terms of the research programme. If the Academy is being asked to support only a proportion of the total costs, please explain this clearly under proposed programme on the proposal tab.
It is advised that travel costs should be clearly justified; that the length of time for which subsistence is sought should be justified in the application; that per diem rates should be explained; that hourly or monthly rates of research assistants should be specified; and that the period of employment needed for a research assistant should be fully justified. If a claim for child or parental care is included, please supply sufficient justification for the case to be assessed – alternatively, application may be made for this type of cost to the British Academy’s Additional Needs Funding. Applicants are asked to quote realistic daily rates, bearing in mind that the Academy reserves the right to reduce the amount requested if it is thought excessive. In all cases the Academy is looking to ensure value for money.
In cases where funds are sought for the costs of illustrative material, please note that if there is an agreement for commercial publication, further information may be sought about the general finances for the volume(s). Requests for reproduction fees (for text or image) will only be considered if a publishing contract is in place.
Please note that no payments can be made to the Lead Applicant either for their own salary costs or for replacement teaching. No payments can be made to Co-applicants for replacement teaching. Please note that grants are cash-limited, and there is no scope for supplementation of an award. Projects should be fully costed from the outset.
Please do not use ‘£’ signs in the amount boxes.
Equal Opportunities
This section is optional; however, the Academy would greatly appreciate it if you can complete the details to assist us in our diversity monitoring.
The British Academy is committed to its policy of Equal Opportunity in the provision of its grants and awards. Please help us to monitor the effectiveness of this policy by providing information concerning your age, gender, ethnic origin and disabilities (if any).
This information will be kept separately from the rest of your application and will not be seen by those involved in making decisions in the selection process, including referees etc.
Lead Applicant Referee Statement
Applicants are required to nominate one referee and ensure that the supporting statement from their chosen referee is submitted on the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS well in advance of the deadline for the submission of your application.
Please enter all the details of your referee by clicking ‘Contributors’ tab on the Application’s ‘Summary’ page. Please click on the ‘Invite’ button, enter the referee’s email address and then click ‘Send Invitation’.
The nominated referee must not be based at the same employing institution as the Lead Applicant or Co-applicant(s), if any. The primary consideration is that they are able to comment independently and authoritatively on your application (i.e. someone in your field, who is independent from you, the Lead Applicant, and the Co-applicant(s)). The nominated referee is expected to comment on the potential of the Lead Applicant to benefit from this scheme and the value that this award will bring to their current and future research direction and ambition. Your nominated referee will be asked to comment upon this in a series of short statements. The reference may be obtained from a person based within or outside the UK but must be submitted in English. If a reference is not submitted in English, it will not be accepted and may render the application ineligible.
Nominated references from the Lead Applicant’s former/current supervisor (including PhD supervisor) will not be accepted. The referee must not be a member of the British Academy’s Council.
Before listing your referee on your application form, you should seek permission from them that they are happy to provide this by the deadline. It is essential that you enter the correct email address for your referee otherwise your referee will not receive the automated messages delivered from the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS.
We strongly advise that you alert your referee as early as possible to allow them enough time to provide their reference in the system. Note that the deadline shown to the referee is the deadline for the whole application to be submitted. The application needs to be approved before the same deadline, and it cannot be submitted for approval before the reference is submitted.
An application cannot be considered for an award unless the proposal and reference have been submitted on time.
Please note that references must be provided through the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS, they cannot be provided as an email attachment nor sent by post in hard copy. Any references received after the deadline, or outside of the system, or by another academic at the same institution as you or Co-applicant(s) will not be accepted, and your application will be withdrawn from this competition.
Head of Department Statement
Applicants are required to include a supporting statement from their Head of Department on the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS well in advance of the deadline for the submission of your application.
Please enter all the details of your Head of Department by clicking ‘Contributors’ tab on the Application’s ‘Summary’ page. Please click on the ‘Invite’ button, enter the Head of Department’s email address and then click ‘Send Invitation’.
The Head of Department should be the person who heads the Department, Faculty, Institute or other unit in which you are currently working and will be expected to comment on the career development benefit to be gained if the award is made.
The statement submitted by the Head of Department should be on letterheaded paper, dated and signed by the Head of Department.
If the Lead Applicant/Co-applicant is also Head of Department, the statement must be provided by another suitable individual, e.g. Deputy Head or Head of School.
We strongly advise that you alert your Head of Department as early as possible to allow them enough time to provide their statement in the system. Note that the deadline shown to the Head of Department is the deadline for the whole application to be submitted. The application needs to be approved before the same deadline, and it cannot be submitted for approval before the Head of Department statement is submitted.
An application cannot be considered for an award unless all contributions have been submitted on time.
Please note that statements must be provided through the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS, they cannot be provided as an email attachment nor sent by post in hard copy. Any statements received after the deadline, or outside of the system will not be accepted, and your application will be withdrawn from this competition.
THE ACADEMY WILL ONLY PROCESS COMPLETE, SUBMITTED APPLICATIONS.
Once you have submitted your application for approval by your employing organisation, automatic emails will be sent to your employing organisation approver asking them to log on to the system. You will not be able to edit your application after it has been submitted to your employing organisation for approval. The employing organisation approver will either: approve and submit your application, ‘send back’ your application and contact you to request modifications or decline your application and contact you.
Please be aware that it is your responsibility to ensure that you complete your application in time for your employing organisation to process it (including requesting changes) and provide their approval by the closing date. It is recommended that you allow at least five working days for this process, but please check with your proposed employing organisation as their internal timetables may require earlier submission.
If your employing organisation approver requests modifications through the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS email facility, they can unlock your application, allowing you to edit it. They can do this by selecting ‘Return to Applicant’. An automatic e-mail will be sent to you alerting you of this fact. Once you have completed and saved the requested changes, please re-submit your application for approval by your employing organisation.
Once your employing organisation has approved your application and submitted it to the British Academy it will not be possible to make any changes.
Please note that once the closing date has passed, employing organisation approvers cannot approve applications and submit them to the British Academy; unapproved applications are removed from consideration. No late applications will be accepted.
It is recommended that you check that your application is submitted in time. To see the details of the employing organisation approver and to check the status of your application, you should log into the British Academy Flexi-Grant® GMS and click on the link to the Application Portal where a summary of your application will be displayed.
Assessment criteria: Assessors will evaluate the proposal on the basis of the quality and interest of the activity or range of activities proposed. They will also consider the promotion of the skills and methods that are the focus of the award, and the plans for the Lead Applicant to act as champion for these skills within their institutions, through broader British Academy networks and more generally. This might include, for example, writing blog pieces about their work, applying their experiences in their teaching, and engaging with researchers or learners outside their disciplinary area. The feasibility and specificity of the programme of activity, and the intended outcomes will also be taken into account. Assessors will also evaluate the ability of the applicant(s) to undertake the proposed activity, taking into account, how they will benefit from this scheme and the value that this award will bring to their current and future research direction and ambition.
Comparative judgements about value for money may be considered at the final stage of assessment. Any special case made for endangered or emerging fields may be taken into account at the final stage of assessment.
There are no interviews prior to selection. All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the application in December 2023 for immediate start in the first quarter of 2024. The approving organisation will be asked to give its consent before the award is confirmed.
Please see the flowchart below for an overview of the application to award process for the Talent Development Awards scheme.
Once your application has been submitted, complete with the reference and Head of Department statement, and it has been approved, you will not be contacted again by the British Academy until the decisions have been made. You can track the progress of your application by logging in again to the Flexi-Grant system at any time. Results are issued by email.
Applicants in any doubt about their eligibility or any other aspect of their application are advised to contact the Research Funding Office at the Academy, where staff will be pleased to assist.
Due to remote working we recommend contacting us by email only. Email: [email protected]
The British Academy
Research Funding Office
10-11 Carlton House Terrace
London SW1Y 5AH
Deadline for application submission and organisation approval: 13 September 2023 (17:00, UK time)
Results announced by email to address on application: by December 2023
TABLE 1: Items Eligible for Funding from Talent Development Awards
Note 1: The case made must be explicitly approved by the Academy.
The British Academy has set aside specific funding to support any additional needs that applicants and award holders may require. This funding would be in addition to the amount already requested for research expenses. Each request will be considered on a case-by-case basis. This additional financial support cannot be guaranteed but the British Academy is keen to be as inclusive as possible in supporting applicants and award-holders with any additional needs in order to facilitate the best possible research. Some examples of what may be considered for this funding are:
- Specific equipment to overcome barriers to people with disabilities undertaking research.
- Assistance to allow applicants living with sensory impairment to carry out their research.
- Bids for the cost of child, parent or other caring responsibilities may be considered if the carer is conducting research away from home and it is not possible to make alternative arrangements.
- The costs of normal regular care whilst at home are not eligible for support.
To find more information about Additional Needs Funding and apply, please visit our website.